Paralaxe Editions presents: Carme López + Edu Pons
On May 8, the rbital collective Paralaxe Editions presents Carme López, a Galician performer, teacher and researcher whose 2024 album, Quintela, explored the experimental possibilities of the Galician bagpipes (gaita gallega). Taking inspiration from pioneering figures like Éliane Radigue and Pauline Oliveros, López creates meditative, long-form drones, disconnecting the bagpipes from the traditional realm and demanding that listeners engage in close, attentive listening. Opening the evening is Edu Pons, a Barcelona-based saxophonist whose work, much like that of López, looks to expand the boundaries of his chosen instrument.
Carme López (O Incio, 1992) is a performer, teacher, and researcher in the field of Galician oral tradition music; she holds a PhD from the UDC with a thesis on traditional female singing in Galicia and is a professor at the USC (Area of Musical Expression – CC.EE).
Quintela is Carme López’s debut album and the first work of experimental music for the Galician bagpipes, influenced by composers such as Éliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, and Kali Malone. In this album, the bagpipes move into a completely unknown field, detached from their link to traditional music in order to decontextualize them and create a personal approach marked by a gender perspective (abandoning the association of prestige between the instrument and masculinity). The narrative arc begins at Carme López’s family home, the Quintela house, and the experiences and personal relationships that have emerged there.
Quintela was released in March 2024 on the WarmWinters Ltd. label, and was reissued on vinyl as one of the best albums of 2024 by Boomkat.
Edu Pons is a musician, but above all a listener. His journeys have ranged from jazz to folk, from classical music to free improvisation. With emotional transmission as his guiding principle, his origins lie in the more aggressive forms of soul and R&B, later developing a personal voice that moves between dreamlike whispers and wild roars.
Acto Libre brings together all the sonic influences of musician Edu Pons, a journey through a search for imagined mental folklores, trance and ritual minimalism, and contradictions between a life among the sounds of trees and birds and the harshness and power of urban life. Saxophones, flutes, zithers, percussion, and electronics intertwine to create a world in which the artist intervenes but also delegates to chance, much like one cannot control their own dreams.
